


Rising Up

by Haberdasher



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bad Ending, Episode 199: Seeing It Through, Episode Related, Gen, Guilt, Moral Ambiguity, Moral Dilemmas, POV Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Sacrifice, Self-Sacrifice, Suicidal Thoughts, episode AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 20:00:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30144807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haberdasher/pseuds/Haberdasher
Summary: A world in which Jon’s smoke break in MAG 199 goes differently.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	Rising Up

Georgie had tried to follow Jon when he went for his smoke break after their conversation... no, their _argument_. Jon hadn’t let her. He wanted to spend some time alone for once, think things through for his own sake somewhere more conducive to it than the tunnels.

It hadn’t been a lie, not really, not at the time. All Jon had set out to do was go off on his own for a bit, take in one last moment of solitude before the planning began in earnest, try to burn off a bit of his distaste for the plan the others had decided upon.

Just the same, though, Jon wasn’t terribly surprised when his feet led him not to London proper but to the stairs of the Panopticon, now left unguarded by Archivists save for the one that touched the wall for a long moment before making his way up the steps. Without Martin by his side, without being reminded that normal humans still had physical limitations that he had left behind when this whole thing started, it took Jon practically no time at all to arrive at the top.

Jon nodded silently at Rosie and tried his best not to drink in her terror as he made his way past.

Jonah Magnus was still floating in place, still occupying the body he had stolen from Elias Bouchard decades ago complete with a perfectly-tailored suit, still chanting words of terrible visions unfolding around the world and he saw nothing and everything all at once...

And Jon knew--Jon Knew--why he had come up here in the first place.

He couldn’t be part of implementing Annabelle’s plan, couldn’t live with the guilt of dooming countless worlds just to save the one he loved. Martin himself had pointed out that there might well be others like them in the world, and it wasn’t really going back on his promise if sacrificing one Jonathan Sims meant saving hundreds or thousands of others, was it?

Besides, there would be others out there who were like Jon not in name or appearance but in action, others who would be manipulated into dooming their own realities. Jon felt enough guilt about dooming his world; he couldn’t let that happen to anyone else, couldn’t let that guilt spread along with the Fears that brought it about.

Maybe Martin was right, maybe he _was_ looking for a chance to martyr himself, but wasn’t that better than creating thousands of martyrs in thousands of worlds like their own?

Jon didn’t know for sure if the plan could or would go on without him, but at least this way he wouldn’t be part of it. At least this way he would be acting to make things better instead of worse.

The words came quickly and easily as soon as Jon steeled himself to speak them.

“ _Ceaseless Watcher, see this false ruler, this pretender to the throne. See his ecstasy and his suffering intermingled, how he lays claim over what is rightfully mine. Turn your gaze upon this wretched thing and make way for the true master of this realm to take his place_.”

Jonah Magnus’ death wasn’t much of a spectacle. He twitched for a moment, just a brief second or two of writhing in agony before dispersing entirely, this body joining his original one in becoming little more than ashes in the wind.

And as one pupil of the Eye was destroyed, another had to take its place...

Jon could feel his feet lifting off the floor, could feel the Eye taking over his mind, but soon his was only one of many suffering minds competing for his attention, his feelings only some of the many sensations available for him to witness and record.

In his last moment of proper awareness as himself rather than as a tool of the Eye, Jonathan Sims hoped that the others would forgive him.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this, consider following me on tumblr at [haberdashing](https://haberdashing.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
